Category theory is an innovative, integrative mathematical framework with the potential to provide more effective analyses of social theory and social processes. One of the key benefits of category theory is to combine expressiveness with rigor. In this sense, it is uniquely appropriate for social modeling.
This proposal suggests a four hour tutorial, with each hour being dedicated to one of the following topics: 1) representing social theory with categories, 2) integrating a model of social structure using category theory, 3) grounding the dynamics of interaction in category theory, and 4) categorial analysis of dynamic social processes.
The first three topics will provide in-depth examples of how substantive social
science can be represented using category-theoretic structures. The final topic will
address how such models can be used to achieve innovative forms of social analysis.